Posts Tagged "kava culture"

Aloha, dear readers, and welcome to what I hope will be another wonderful year of kava-related stories! I’ve gushed many times about the power of kava to strengthen community and family bonds and make strangers into friends over the kava bowl. Recently, my belief in the power of kava was directly vindicated by a study from the Auckland University of Technology which demonstrated that faikava (“kava clubs” in Tongan) have become a locus for preserving Tongan language and culture in the modern age! Conducted by master’s student Edmund Fehoko (who is of Tongan descent), the study surveyed young...

I know what you’re all thinking—what the heck does this story have to do with kava kava? Truthfully, I may be stretching convention a bit by calling this “kava news”, but it’s such a quirky, fun story that I couldn’t resist! More to the point, guess where this new UFO landing pad has just opened? Right across the street from Uncle Robert’s Kava Bar in Kalapana on the Big Island of Hawaii!! Ahem. Lest I sound too much like a giddy “New Ager”, allow me to back up and explain exactly what the story is behind this remarkable headline. On June 27th, 2014, locals in this town in the Puna region of...

Aloha everyone, and I hope this post finds you well! It’s a hot, dry midsummer in Hawaii, and as always, I’m grateful to have plenty of quenching ‘awa on hand to refresh me after a hard day of work on the farm! Long-time visitors to this blog know that besides all things kava, one of my foremost passions is reading and research; I still take every opportunity to educate myself on the history, botany and culture surrounding this wonderful plant and its origins. One thing that’s been on my mind recently is the connection between kava and its botanical relatives in the pepper genus, Piper. No...

While this fun bit of information I’m about to share with you isn’t necessarily directly related to kava kava and all of its wonders – it is about Kava culture and culturally speaking anything related to Kava in some way is definitely worth sharing! And Kava culture is expanding its horizons it seems, as it dabbles its loving fingers into the mainstream music scene. Anyone who has indulged in Kava culture a little bit, or a lot, may be aware of the beautifully traditional Kava songs out of the Pacific Islands. These songs are quite relaxing and lovely to sit back and listen...

A big aloha to all of you readers out there in this new year of 2014! As we say goodbye to what was undoubtedly a tumultuous year worldwide in 2013, I thought it might be a good time to look back at some of the strides, both large and small, local and global, that my beloved kava has made in the public consciousness. What were the biggest news stories you discovered about kava in 2013? Please write me if something you were expecting doesn’t appear on this list; I always love to hear from our dear visitors! Now then, on to the year in kava! May 13th, 2013- The University of Melbourne released...